Business View Civil & Municipal Apr-2023

124 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 In addition to parks, Montgomery is home to several walking paths, and the city prides itself on being a very walkable city. “One of the things that benefits Montgomery is our pedestrian connection,” Riblet says. “You can get to any of our parks via sidewalk, you can walk to any neighborhood via sidewalk. It was very important to us to create that sense of community through the connection with our sidewalks and I think that’s one of the things that our residents love about Montgomery.” Montgomery’s dedication to its community doesn’t just stop at its physical needs. The city has worked hard to create a welcoming, inclusive, and sustainable atmosphere for its residents, as well. The city has set up a diversity and inclusion commission which has created a speaker series that focuses on cultural topics. “In 2020 we received the Building Inclusive Community Award by the Cincinnati Business Courier,” Riblet explains. “That’s very important to our community – that we’re welcoming and we’re inclusive. We’re always striving to be a better community.” They’ve also recently embarked on a mental health initiative for the city, that allows the city to connect residents to local resources available, as well as hosting community forums on topics like suicide prevention, anxiety, and depression. “A lot of people don’t think local government has a role in mental health, and my response is that I agree. We don’t have the expertise or clinicians on staff to administer mental health help, but we can be a facilitator for that conversation and connect people with resources that are available to them,” Riblet explains. Looking toward the future of Montgomery, Margolis hopes to continue to rely on the input from the community to make the city a better place. “We want to focus on the resident, the value the government adds to the resident and how they can be involved, and I look forward to continuing that in the future and even sharpening that focus,” he says. PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Kolar Design www.kolardesign.net